Destinies Intertwined

Lyra lay on the prison cot, looking up at the ceiling, “I hope Khai isn’t overreacting.”

“What would ‘overreacting’ be,” Caramel asked.

“Sending his army to overtake the village.”

“Oh...explains the news report last night…”

“Wait, news report?”

“While you were asleep last night, they mentioned that some Changelings went after some people trying to enjoy the meteor shower.”

“Ugh...Khai, why do you do this to me?”

“Beats me, you married him.”

“Well, as soon as I get my hands on him…” She flagged over an officer. “Sir, could I borrow a newspaper?”

“I guess...hold on…” The officer went back down the hall, then came back shortly with a newspaper, “Here ya go.”

She looked at the article. Once she read that Khai “threatened” the princesses, she was ready to go into a rage. “WHY THAT LITTLE….” She handed the paper back to the officer before shouting in unintelligible gibberish before punching the nearest wall.

“Did he do something else?” Caramel asked.

“He threatened the princesses.”

“Oh...well, that could be bad…” The officer said, but Lyra hardly noticed.

“Yeah, especially since he wanted PEACE with the Equestrians, not WAR!”

“Well, maybe the newspaper exaggerated, and Khai was negotiating with them.” Caramel thought aloud.

“Oh no, I know my husband! He DEFINITELY is going to try to start a war. Add to that the fact we haven’t seen each other in YEARS…”

“You gotta keep an open mind…” the officer said.

Caramel and Lyra shot him a glare and said in unison, “You’re one to talk!”

"Hey! I didn't throw you in here. Still, be thankful you still have someone, my wife left me and took our kids with her." The police officer shrugged.

“Oh. Sorry to hear that,” Caramel said, “Mine was killed.”

“How?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Alright…”

"What is he thinking," Lyra wondered aloud.

******

Khai looked at the paper. When he saw the word “threatened,” he was tempted to go into a new level of rage. ‘The media just want to sell more satisfying stories at our expense…’

Khai, in his disguised form, sat at a table in a restaurant. He was trying his best to continue his daily routine of reading the newspaper while drinking some coffee, but he continued going back to the front page.

At least the coffee was good.

Khai's mind began to wander back to Urbi. It had been ages since he last saw her. And the small hug they had shared yesterday didn't satisfy his hunger for her love. He wanted to hold her and never let go, but now she was in prison for a crime she hadn't committed. And he was being accused of threatening two Princesses. Sure, he and his people were changelings, but are ponies the real liars in this world?

Khai closed his eyes and thought for a bit, perhaps peace with these people was a lost cause, if they only knew the cold, evil Siyah, then there was no point. The Equestrians were like all the others; Prejudice.

Or maybe not… He looked up and saw a familiar blue pegasus with… a griffon?

Griffons were generally a despised race, even by the Changelings, why would-

Khai chuckled, 'I guess prejudice is easier than I thought.'

He folded up his paper and walked over to the two. "Good morning, ladies," He greeted.

Rainbow and Gilda looked at Khai. "Good morning...uh...Khai?" Rainbow (sort of) greeted, “What brings you here?”

"Just having breakfast. What are you two doing?"

"We're going back to my place to get Gilda's kid fed."

"I see, well, I was enjoying my breakfast when I read in the paper that I ‘threatened’ two princesses when I was going there to negotiate with them.”

“Oh, I don’t normally read the paper, so I didn’t know about that, until now at least. Speaking of which, why were changelings holding some ponies hostage?”

"They weren't 'held hostage' I wanted to warn them."

"Really? That's how you 'warn' someone?"

"How else should I?"

"Uh, I dunno, maybe gather everyone up and THEN warn them?"

“She’s got a point,” Gilda pointed out.

“Thank you, but this doesn’t concern you right now.”

“Oh it does. For one thing, I am standing here, aren’t I?”

“Yes… but…”

“And you are one of my friends…”

“Yeah… Bu-”

“Then every bit of this concerns me.”

"But you didn't help his wife and her...buddy."

"You mean Qrong," Khai asked.

"Who," Dash asked.

"Qrong, the man with Urbi."

"You mean Caramel?"

"Is that what he goes by here? Then I suppose it is."

“You helped him, didn’t you?” Gilda asked.

“Yeah…”

"You'll have to explain all this when we get to your place, you know that, right?"

“Oh yeah…”

Suddenly, a small voice began grunting.

"Hey Dash? Can we go...now? Garuda's starting to get busy..."

"Oh boy.... Okay, we better go," but before they left, Rainbow shot Khai a glare, "But we aren't finished talking about this."

"Fine by me."

*****

Spike and Applebloom were halfway done with the set. It was starting to get tiring, though, so Spike suggested, "Maybe we should take a break for a bit?"

“Alright. Looks good so far. Wanna snack?"

"Sure."

Applebloom and Spike were about to go into the kitchen, but. "I can get us something, Spike, what do you want?"

"Uh...I just want a soda, but I can get it."

"Ya sure?"

"Yeah...I kinda like having it in a cup with ice then in a can... It makes it taste better for some reason."

"Oh! Glad I'm not the only one."

"Really? I thought it was just me and Twi."

"Twi does, too?

“Oh yeah. Who do you think got me to?"

“Ah.”

“Oh and there’s one thing I need to tell you.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m going to get my wings.”

“Wait, what?”

“I found out last night that my wings are growing.”

"Wow! When will they be fully grown?"

“About a month.”

"Cool! Maybe I'll get my cutie mark by then!"

“I hope so.”

"Me too."

“So...if you want I can get the sodas for us...if you want one that is.”

“It’s alright, I can get it.”

“Alright.”

Both kids went into the kitchen and Applebloom pulled out two cans of soda from the fridge and gave it to Spike. Spike grabbed a cup from the cupboard and poured the soft drink in, with Applebloom doing the same. Once they had finished getting their drinks, they went back to Applebloom’s room.

“So...have you heard about what happened last night?” Applebloom asked.

“You mean the invasion? Yeah, Twilight told me.”

“Really? Did she tell you she took two of ‘em out?”

“What?!”

“Uh-huh! She used her magic and knocked ‘em both into next week!”

“Wow… Guess I shouldn’t be too surprised, she is very powerful, but I never would’ve imagined her using it to hurt someone.”

“Yeah, she even threatened them!”

“WHAT?!?!?!”

“Yup, she even said ‘If you move any further, I WILL kill you’.”

Spike stared at Applebloom, “Are you sure that was Twilight Sparkle? The librarian? The pony who’s been raising me since I hatched?”

“Yep.”

“Wow...I’ll have to talk with her about it when I see her.”

“Okay…”

“Did you enjoy what you saw of the meteor shower?”

“Yeah...it was okay, kinda wished you were there.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you’re a fun guy, Spike.”

Spike blushed, “Thanks...I kinda wished I had gone, too.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I had too much going on.”

“Oh...are you and Rarity still datin’?”

“No...something hap- wait, how’d you know about that?”

“Sweetie Belle.”

“Oh, well, anyway, I’m not… Not anymore.”

“How come?”

“Um...can we talk about it in your room, it’s kinda personal…”

“Oh...sure Spike, but you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“No, I do, but privately.”

“Oh, okay…”

They both went into Applebloom’s room, and she closed the door.

“Okay...so first off, the Rarity I thought was Rarity, wasn’t the real Rarity.”

“Huh?”

“A Changeling had given the real Rarity to the Diamond Dogs, and she pretended to be Rarity...and she tried to force me into…” Spike cleared his throat, this really felt awkward, “She tried to have…intercourse with me…”

Applebloom’s curious expression turned to one of sadness, “Oh Spike, I’m sorry…”

“Thanks...it...really scared me, which kinda sounds stupid coming from a dragon.”

“No it doesn’t,” Applebloom gave Spike the biggest hug she could give, “Everyone gets scared, Spike. Heck, I know all of AJ and Big Mac’s fears.”

“Oh?”

“Yup,” Applebloom whispered in Spike’s ear.

“Really?!”

“Yup, just don’t tell anyone, okay?”

“Okay.” He groaned in pain.

“Spike?”

“I’m fine. It’s just the wings. I just need to lay down.”

“Oh, okay.” Applebloom cleared a few of her things off her bed, “You can lay there.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes! Just...please lay down?”

“Okay…” Spike did as he was told and laid on his stomach, exhaling blissfully, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

Spike closed his eyes, and hugged the pillow. He lay there for a few moments before sitting up, “I should probably get home, Twilight might begin to worry. Sorry we couldn’t finish the set.”

“It’s okay, it’ll still be here waiting for ya.”

“Thanks...you’re a good friend Applebloom.”

Applebloom blushed, “Well...so are you…”

“Thanks.”

"Don't mention it."

******

Luna walked over to her bed and pulled the covers. She was preparing to go to bed, but there was a knock at the door. Luna’s eyes widened as she hastily rushed to get her bathrobe from the bathroom. She slipped it on and went back to the door. She opened it and saw a very angry Celestia, wearing a yellow T-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes.

“Hello my sister,” Luna greeted, “What is the matter?”

“I heard from Twilight that some changelings attacked Ponyville.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, and I might have prevented it, had it not been for a certain ‘Monopony’ tournament,” She glared at Luna.

“...I just thought it might be a good idea to wind down after the threat, are you still upset you lost, big sister?” Luna smirked.

“Luna, someone could have been killed, in fact, Twilight had to fight them off herself.”

“I see...well, I’m sorry, Tia, would you forgive me?”

“Yes...but I still have to talk to that Khai fellow. If he thinks he can do that to us without any retaliation, he is bitterly mistaken.”

“Tia, are you sure this is a good idea. It could have been a misunderstanding.”

“Twilight told me these weren’t normal changelings, and they seemed to look very similar to Khai.”

“Maybe a mix-up in orders?”

“Some mix up! But I’ll still have to talk to him.”

“Alright…”

“Do you want to go with me?”

“Might be a good idea… Just let me put on something more…” She looks down at herself in her bathrobe before looking back at Celestia. “Presentable.”

“Good idea...though...you would make a good distraction to throw him off his-”

“No! And besides, he’s married.”

“Yeah, the wife wouldn’t be too happy.

"And neither would I. Now it you’ll excuse me." Luna closed the door and hastily looked through her closet.

"Would you like some help, Lu-Lu?"

“No, I think I know what I want. I just need to find it.”

"Okay, I'll see you out in the garage."

"Very we-garage?"

*****

Luna's heels echoed in the underground garage. "Tia?"

"Over here Luna."

Luna followed the sound of her sister's voice to a white Mercedes. "Are you sure you remember how to drive?"

"Of course I do. Besides, it's been, what, ten years since I last drove."

"Well THAT's reassuring..."

"Well, when's the last time you drove?"

"Last week." Luna smirked.

"For your driver's test?"

Luna fell silent.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Okay, let’s go.” Celestia pulled out her keys from her pocket, and put it in the ignition. Then turned it to bring the car to life. She put her foot on the accelerator and the car- revved its engine. It didn’t move an inch.

“Wouldn’t revving the engine like that waste gasoline?”

“Well, yes, but this IS how to make them move.”

“Does that stick have anything to do with it?”

Celestia looked at the gear shift to see that it was set to park. “Oh. Yes it does.” She shifted it to first, then put her foot on the accelerator. The car barreled forward, it scared the two princesses and Celestia planted her foot on the brakes. The car instantly pulled to a stop, jolting both Celestia and Luna forward.

“Do you want me to drive,” Luna asked.

“N-no, I can do this,” Celestia inhaled deeply and SLOWLY put her foot on the accelerator.